NEXT WEDNESDAY, AFTER we’ve all spent Tuesday gobbling up pancakes, it’s time for Lent to commence for another year.

Whether or not you believe in the underlying principles, it’s still an ideal time of year to double down on the good intentions laid down in your New Year’s resolutions just last month.

For many, Lent is something we did as kids in school. Sweets were given up for a whole, aeons-long forty days and forty nights (with brief respite on St Patrick’s Day and if your birthday happened to fall during it).

Flickr / Tom Pierce Flickr / Tom Pierce / Tom Pierce

Everyone was in it together. Tins of sweets were saved and squirreled away for the big day – when Easter finally came and you could break Lent at last. And that’s not even getting into the Easter eggs.

Power in numbers

But as adults, is it still worth giving Lent a bash? Doing things in a group (and telling other people you’re doing them) often leads to more success in sticking to things like diets, taking up a new hobby and giving up smoking.

RichardBH RichardBH

So why not? Just think of all those Easter eggs you could treat yourself to if you could stick to your guns and keep up the new good habits long after Lent is over…

So, tell us – are you giving up anything for Lent this year?

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